New fragrances and variants have blossomed the India Agarbatti and Dhoop market in the past years.
The burning of dhoop and agarbatti in religious and social function has been practiced in India since early times. They are burnt in Indian homes as a room freshener and is reputed to process high aesthetic properties. The Indian agarbatti and dhoop industry exports a large number of shipments to more than 90 countries of the world. Compared to other countries the Indian agarbatti and dhoop are pursued to have superior quality. The market consists of a large number of unorganized players.
The Indian agarbatti and dhoop market is highly dominated by the agarbatti sales, dhoop is not much preferred in Indian market. India is one of the largest producers of agarbatti and dhoop sticks, as well as the largest consumer too. More than 2/3rd of the agarbatti produced in India are consumed locally. The fragrances mostly consumed in the Indian market are Rose, lavender, Sandal, Champa, Jasmine, Mogra, etc. While the players in the Indian market are searching for new fragrances to attract more customers. While variants of agarbatti are available in terms of pack size, packaging type, stick length, stick shape, stick color, etc.
The players in India agarbatti and dhoop market are found to be expanding their product range by bringing new fragrances as well as new variants in terms of pack size, stick shape, stick color, stick length, etc. to target large segments of the Indian market.
The Indian agarbatti and dhoop market consist of a large number of agarbatti giants as well as other players. The high presence of other players is mainly due to low entry barrier of the industry, easy availability of imported cheap raw material as well as raw sticks, the machines required for production are also not so costly, highly labor captive industry which requires less skilled labours, etc.
According to the report ‘India Incense sticks (Agarbatti & Dhoop) Market Outlook, 2023’ published by Bonafide Research, The Indian agarbatti and dhoop market is forecasted to have high growth with a CAGR of more than 9% from 2022-23. The primary reasons for this high growth are the rising number of temples, increasing tourism, rising disposable income, rising number of pujas, and rituals with rising problems of people, increasing variants, etc. The exports of agarbatti and dhoop are also increasing in the last few years. The major consumption is found to be in the southern states of India with the presence of a large number of big temples, highly religious people, etc. The states in the North and South regions of India combined contribute to around 2/3rd sales of agarbatti in India.
The current India agarbatti and dhoop market is flooded with a large number of brands and there is very less places where agarbatti and dhoop are not available. So, for further growth of the market share, the companies in the Indian market are discoursing new variants of agarbatti and dhoop in terms of the new fragrance. Many of the firms are also altering their stick size, shape, and color in order to differentiate themselves and to make their sticks more attractive. Companies are creating a new combination of fragrance, stick shape, stick size and pack size targeting various geographical regions, festivals, and consumer preferences to boost their sales. Recently in February 2018, Mysore Deep Perfumery House (Known for its brand Zed Black) introduced a new series ‘Suryanamaskar’ targeting the export market at Yoga enthusiasts across the globe having18 distinct fragrances. Mysore Scents has two freelance perfumers that have contributed to the development of the company’s 250-odd variants and introduce two new ones every month. These perfumers work on a retainer basis and help Mysore Scents come up with new scents, but are not involved in the manufacturing process for confidentiality purposes. While in January 2018, Moksh agarbatti launched its new fragrance ‘Lucky 100’ especially targeting the Odisha Market.
The organized agarbatti market is led by N. Ranga Rao & Sons with its vast brand range having a large number brand. The cycle is the leading brand of N. Ranga Rao & Sons, and it also observes highest market share by the brand in Indian agarbatti and dhoop brand. N. Ranga Rao & Sons focus on increasing its sales with high advertisement. The cycle brand has 3 brand ambassadors Amitabh Bachchan, Sourav Ganguli and Ramesh Arvind for different regions. While in 2017 all three of them were featured in a single advertisement for their campaign ‘India Prays with Cycle’ showing the diversity of India.
Some of the major companies that operate in the Indian Agarbatti and Dhoop market are N. Ranga Rao & Sons Private Limited, Moksh Agarbattis, ITC Limited, Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH), Shree Kalpana Perfumery Works Private Limited, Hari Darshan Sevashram Private Limited, B. V. Aswathiah & Bros, Hem Corporation Private Limited, Patanjali Ayurved Limited.